


Truth

by drkangel721



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-29
Updated: 2013-05-29
Packaged: 2017-12-13 07:53:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/821843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drkangel721/pseuds/drkangel721
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the aftermath of Tobias, Hannibal thinks about Will.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Truth

**Author's Note:**

> Just trying to get a feel for the character. Set during Episode 8. Constructive criticism is welcomed and appreciated.

Hannibal has spent much of his life disdainful of humanity and intolerant of its failures. He is brilliant, articulate and cultured and views himself as a standard to which few others can measure up. Lies slip from his tongue much more often and easily than truth, and people believe him because he expects to be believed; few are worthy enough to deserve truth from Hannibal.

He isn’t quite sure what makes Will Graham so different from his other acquaintances. It’s true that Will is quite intelligent, and his fractured mind is intriguing to Hannibal as a psychiatrist, but Hannibal, by virtue of his occupation, is frequently in contact with people of both types. Will is separate from the world as Hannibal is separate from it, and perhaps there is kinship in that.

Hannibal is aware that Will has come to rely on him, though this is not an unusual relationship between a psychiatrist and his patients. He is a constant source of stability for them, after all, in a world in which they feel perpetually off kilter. But somewhere along the line during their brief association, Hannibal has begun to feel as attached to Will as Will is to him. He realizes this suddenly when the man invites himself into Hannibal’s house and he doesn’t feel himself bristle at the intrusion. Rather, he thinks of Tobias waiting in the dining room and feels...protective. He wonders if he will put himself between Will and Tobias should the necessity arise, even if it means opening himself up to Will’s suspicions. Though he doesn’t show it, he is relieved to find that Tobias has made his escape out the side door, to be dealt with another time.

In the aftermath, Hannibal tends his own injuries and waits quietly but impatiently for the crime scene techs to leave him in peace. When Will appears in the doorway of his office, Hannibal lets out a taut breath he doesn’t realize he has been holding. Hannibal had sent Will after Tobias for his own protection--his self-preservation instinct stronger in that moment than his concern for Will’s safety--but for the single tense moment between Jack entering the room and Will following behind him, Hannibal feels the potentiality of Will’s death and finds he is distressed by it.

Will approaches him slowly, warily, and though Hannibal can usually read him quite well, he doesn’t know what he’s thinking now; his normally skittish gaze is steady. It makes Hannibal feel slightly off-balance, even vulnerable.

“I was worried you were dead,” Hannibal says, matching his stare. For once, he isn’t lying.


End file.
